Word Processing Basics
What can word processors do?
Once text is entered, it can be processed (changed) easily. The appearance can be changed – called text formatting. Also the content can be changed – called text editing.
The text can be saved and reused. For example, a standard letter template can be created, and used to send similar letters to different people.
Professional-looking documents can be created by just about anyone. That’s because it’s easy to correct spelling mistakes, and to improve the appearance of the document with graphics and text formatting.
Since most people now create their own documents, fewer people are employed as professional typists. But this efficiency gain is reduced a little because most people can’t touch-type – so it takes longer to enter text.
The big problem with word processors is that because they now contain so many different ways to edit and format information, it’s all too easy to get carried away and do things just because you can,rather than because it’s useful.
Keep the layout simple – remember the needs of your intended audience.
If possible design the layout of the document first, and then carry out an acceptance test with the user.
Text Formatting
There are three main text formatting methods.
Change the font
There are two main types of font:
Serif - Serif fonts such as Times New Roman can make pages easier to read.
Sans Serif -Sans serif fonts such as Arial are better if the text is arranged in boxes on the pages.
Change the size of the text
Emphasise headings and sub-headings by making them larger.
A font size between 10 and 12 point is easy to read for most people. Small children and people with reading difficulties might need a larger font size.
Highlight text
There are four ways to make text stand out. Words can be in:
- bold type
- italics
- underlined
- colour
Keep it simple – be consistent and don’t do them all at once.
Text Editing Methods
As well as changing the appearance of text, you can change content as well – individual characters, words or whole blocks of text.
Positioning Text
There are four ways to position text
Tab
The tab key on the keyboard makes the cursor jump on step to the right.
It can be used to indent a paragraph.
Margins
Margins fix how far from the side of the page the text starts and finishes.
Line Spacing
Line spacing adjusts how far apart the lines of text are on top of each other.
Double line spacing is much easier to read than single-line spacing, but is uses up much more paper.
Alignment and Justification
Alignment and justification affects how each line of text is arranged.
| This text is left-aligned. |
| This text is right-aligned |
| This text is centre-aligned. |
| This text paragraph has been justified – so that each full line is the same length. You often see this in magazines and newspapers. |
Tables, Borders and Columns
Tables, borders and columns can help readability
Tables are a good way to present lists of numerical or textual information, e.g. lists of names and addresses.
Putting borders around tables, pictures or blocks of text helps break up the information on the page – which makes it easier to read.
Columns can be created so that the text flows down the page and jumps automatically to the next column. This is great for newsletters and newspapers.
Page Set-Up
Choosing the page set-up means deciding how the page will look when printed.
You must choose which layout you will use. The layout can be either portrait (tall and narrow) or landscape (short and wide).
PORTRAIT
LANDSCAPE
You must also choose the size of paper you will print on.
The page can be A4 (the size of these notes), bigger (e.g. A3), or smaller (e.g. A5 or A6).
It is important to have the right size paper. Remember, most printers can not print bigger than A4.
Widows and Orphans
Orphans are the small blocks of text that don’t quite fit onto the bottom of one page, and so get put on a new one.
Widows are the blocks of text orphans get separated from.
As well as looking unprofessional, they waste paper.
There are two main ways of getting rid of widows and orphans:
- Reduce the font size of the entire text so it fits onto a whole page (but not too small to read).
- Adjust the margins at the top and bottom of the page. However, a page can look cluttered if text is too close to the edge of the page.
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG stands for What You See Is What You Get, meaning that a document will look exactly the same on-screen as on a printed page.
Not all word processors are WYSIWYG – others have different ways of viewing the document.
Headers and Footers
These are blocks of information at the top (header) or bottom (footer) of the page. They’re especially useful in multi-page documents where similar information needs to be on each page.
The most common examples of information in a header or footer include: filename, date and page number.
Search and Replace
Find and change text using search and replace.
Search enables a specified word to be located wherever it appears in the document.
Replace can automatically replace a selected word with a different word – either individually or every time the word occurs.
Spell and Grammar Checking
Most word processors can automatically correct your spelling and grammar
but there are problems.
Spell Checkers
- They come in different languages. Many words are spelt differently in different parts of the English speaking world.
- They only recognise misspelt words – not their content. This is a problem with words like 'were' and 'where'. If you use the wrong one, the spell-checker won't find a problem.
- Sometimes the dictionaries contain mistakes. One well-known word processor’s spell-checker contained a misspelling of 'liaise'. (This is an example of "garbage in garbage out".)
Grammar-Checkers
- Grammar-checkers can be unreliable and give confusing advice. This is because good grammar depends upon context – and most software is not yet powerful enough to take this into account.
Word Count
Sometimes you need to know how many words you’ve written, e.g. in a piece of coursework.
Automatic word counting is an option on most word processors.
Readability Scores
Readability scores are often linked to grammar checks. The computer counts things like lengths of words and sentences, and uses them to calculate an overall score.
One common index is the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score – this gives the reading age of the document as an American high school grade.
Mail Merge
Mail merge lets you send personalised letters by combining a standard letter with information in a database. They save clubs and businesses loads of time.
There are three steps involved:
- A database is created containing the information you want to appear in the personalised letter.
- A standard letter is created containing codes, which are usually based on the field names in the database. An example is Dear <Surname> where "surname" is a field in the database.
- The standard letter is linked to the database, and software merges the data by inserting each database record in turn into the letter. If there are 1000 names in the database when you'll get 1000 personalised letters – and each one will greet the reader by their surname.
Templates
A template is a standard document containing pre-set formats and layouts. Their main benefit is that once they’ve been created, they save time – so they-re often used for business letters.
A letter template contains spaces for the recipient’s name, address, and the date. There are already formatted – the user just has to stick on the text.
Macros
A macro is a sequence of commands that have been recorded by the computer and saved, using a short code as a filename.
You run the macro by keying in the code.
A good example is a macro to insert a footer containing the filename, date and page number into all new documents.
Import
Importing means adding data created using a different software application. A good example is the use of clip-art.
In order for imported data to work it must have been saved using a common file format that both pieces of software can recognise.
It is possible to embed a spreadsheet into a word-processed document and then activate it from within the word processor. Or you can link the spreadsheet to the document so that when the spreadsheet is edited, the word-processed document is automatically updated.
Miscellaneous
ICT Tutorials
- Databases
- Multi-Media
- Spreadsheets
- Word Processing
- Web Site Authoring